Woman’s warning to North West dog owners after her Poodle nearly loses leg in park

A dog-owner has shared a warning to others to take care of their pets while on walks, after her pooch nearly lost her leg.

Jo-anne Snape was taking her Miniature Poodle, Pip, on a walk on Tuesday, at Mill Island in Nantwich. 

Just a few minutes later she ended up carrying Pip to the vets with a deep, bloody slash on her leg.

Speaking to Cheshire Live, Jo-anne said her eight-year-old pooch entered undergrowth and didn’t come back out. She added ‘I heard an almighty yelp’.

She said: “At first I thought something got hold of her, another dog? Or maybe she has put her paw on a bramble or a thorn?

“I found her there with this huge, gaping wound on her leg and under her tummy.”

When she found her she knew she ‘needed to ring the vets immediately’. Pip was put under general anaesthetic, stitched up and given pain killers and antibiotics. 

Jo-anne said: “We got back home at 8pm. I think she (Pip) was in as much as a state of shock as us.”

The next morning, Jo-anne returned to the park to find out what caused Pip such a deep wound. She said: “It played on my mind all night, I thought, is it glass, is it barbed wire?”

“I walked where she went and I did find glass and it was broken, it looked like a brown bottle and it was jutting up in the air.

“Chances are she ran over it because her belly was close enough to the ground.”

Jo-anne threw the bottle away and has warned others to be extra vigilant. She said it was a ‘genuine accident’ but has called on people to put their litter in the bin.

She added: “I don’t think anyone has deliberately stood it up to hurt an animal but I think it is just carelessness, which is ridiculous because the park is full of bins but it’s what happens isn’t it, people don’t use them.”

Speaking of the huge response she’s had since posting the incident on Facebook, she said: “So many people have got in touch to ask about Pip which is really nice.

“Please be mindful and careful that there may be more litter under the leaves that now lay on he floor.

“Pip should make a full recovery but I am heartbroken for my little dog and would hate it to happen to anyone else.”